Forever Young.

A day at the park.

I Love savoring these moments with my butter bean. Now that she is stumbling walking, she loves walking in new territory.She loves giving "high fives" so that is what we are doing in the last few images. With her birthday a mere 4 days away, I am almost in a depressed state. Where did the time go? I wish she would stay this age forever... 

For those who follow my Facebook status', I keep catching Amelia in the tub. She has had a mysterious bruise on her forehead (I know she is exploring and getting many bumps and bruises, I wasn't worried but just COULDN'T remember her hitting her forehead that hard.)

while cleaning the bathroom, I witnessed her just DIVING into the bathtub head first without any warning at all. She landed face first and instead of making a cry or whimper, she started laughing out of excitement that she actually made it in. Big bruise finally had an explanation. That little stink....

Happy Frappy Friday!

I love coffee just as much more than the average person. I could drink it all day every day.

However, I can count on one hand I go to Starbucks in one year. I LOVE going to sit and draw for a few hours and people watch but you won't catch this chick paying $6 for a cup of joe. No way.

I make my own fraps at home and you should too with this ridiculously easy recipe. Here is how:

Happy Frappy: (yes, I went there.)

-1 cup of vanilla Silk Soy milk (you can also use good ol' milk)

-1 Teaspoon of instant coffee (you should always have this at home, you can use it in so many recipes!)

-1 splenda packet (or regular sugar. if you use regular milk, you will need more)

-A handful of ice

* You can also put a dash of cinnamon or take advantage of those flavored coffee creamers too!

Blend and serve!

Have a great weekend!

Grocery Store DO's & DON'TS

I have a serious love/hate relationship with the grocery store.

I love going because it gets me out of the house (for potential adult interaction, gasp!), Amelia LOVES going and stocking my fridge is always a plus.

With that being said, the grocery store is where I always see the worst in people. It is the place where I am reminded that frankly no one gives a rats ass about anyone but themselves. People will bump into your cart without an "excuse me", just about run you over in the isle without any regard, speed up in the parking lot so you don't have enough time to cross...the list goes on and on. And while this is the perfect opportunity to vent about how people suck now days, I am so glad I don't act this way...towards ANYONE.

The one rule I live my life by, ALWAYS, is to love thy neighbor. I smile at every single person I make eye contact with, wether it be on a walk or in the mall. Cue the sappy quote "you never know that your smile might be the only smile someone gets today." I will go out of my way to hold the door for someone who clearly needs help because as children of God, THAT IS WHAT WE ARE SUPPOSE TO DO. Please don't mistake me for tooting my own horn or bragging, I am beyond far from perfect however I will never understand how we as humans are so mean to one another...for no reason at all.

Below is my grocery store etiquette :)

DO'S:
- ALWAYS say "excuse me" when you are trying to pass someone in the isle. 

- Bag your own groceries. Don't hold up the whole line to wait for a bagger to come and help...unless you are unable to yourself.

-Make simple conversation with the person checking you out. Do you know how many assholes they have already had in their line today? Don't be one of them. (in fact, try saying "Have a great day!" before they do...and mean it.)

-If you see someone in an electric cart on your isle, ask if they need help reaching an item. Every time I do this, people are amazed someone even cared to ask. 

-Be polite in the parking lot. Don't speed up to be the pedestrians crossing. So rude. 

-Bring something to keep your kids occupied. I get it...everyone has screaming children but why are yours screaming, on the floor dumping tortillas everywhere?

-You know those little donation tickets you can give to your cashier at check out? Do it every now and then. I promise you won't miss a dollar.

-RETURN YOUR FREAKING CART. And if there are some other stray ones in your area, return those too. If that seems just too damn difficult, park next to the cart return.


DON'TS:

-Don't hold up a whole line of traffic to get a spot close to the front. Chances are, if you are willing to wait 20394823 minutes for a parking spot, you should be walking anyways. 

-Don't leave your cart in the middle of the isle while you go browse the whole isle. 

-Don't huff n' puff and shoot eye rolls when someone is in your way. Patience is virtue.

-DON'T, and I repeat DON'T grab an item and twenty minutes later put it back in an isle where it doesn't belong. I hate seeing a refrigerated item in the pantry section just spoiling away.

-Don't come up and start giving someone involuntary parenting advise. My child took her socks off in the car and has lost too many on the floors of HEB. Yes, I know its cold outside.
*I thought I would totally have more "Don'ts" maybe I will add later haha*

Do this and I promise you {and everyone around you} will have a more enjoyable shopping experience :)

"Do to others as you would have them do to you."

                                                                        Luke 6:31

playing catch up.

This post is long over due but I have been busy with that thing...you know...life?  Every night I lay my head down and think "SHOOT! ANOTHER NIGHT I TOTALLY FORGOT TO BLOG!"

Totally kidding, life has been far to busy to even think before I go to sleep.

FIRST OFF: MY CHILD IS WALKING. It's true...I have never been so proud and so scarred, ha! She's a determined little booger.

I made this onsie for Amelias birthday outfit...thought it turned out pretty cute considering it was just a plain white onsie? (please agree with me...?) I have this idea to make a matching purple tutu...stay tuned.

On Monday Amelia had a playdate with her new playmate miss Averi. It was the first time for the mommies to hang out too and it went super well! So good that we got together again today (thank goodness for new mommy friends!). We had lunch, chatted, napped (not us, the babies.), and went to the park. This was not just an ordinary park trip...this was Averi's FIRST SWING RIDE. So glad that Amelia got to show her the ropes ;). Here are some pictures from today:

 

We ended the night with bath time...where daddy gave gave Amelia a mohawk. 

That's all for now! Will blog my tutu tutorial once (and if) I actually make it :) 

Oh, and my husband is cute and so are my grandparents. 

{Na na na na-na-na-na}

I have to brag (yes, on myself) on this shoot from today of baby Jude. 

 Check out more on the photography blog!!

Tea Time

Sorry I didn't follow through with my promise of the felt flower tutorial :( I know you were all just ITCHING with anticipation hahaha...

Travis had the computer all weekend and unfortunately the camera as well and had to shoot over the card with my pictures on it. Re-do will be sometime this week :) 

Until then, here are the handmade homemade invitations for my sweet Amelias first birthday:

My mother in law has a Cricket and it's AMAZING. Pure happiness flows from my veins when I get to use it. We simply just cut out the tea pot from scrapbook paper and glued them to pre-cut card stock. She had all the materials ( as she should with TWO whole rooms dedicated to crafting) and the wording was made through Photoshop and printed on regular paper. They are all different which I love.  Just like my baby shower (going to do an entire post dedicated to its amazingness) I don't want the party atmosphere to scream "A pink princes puked in here" and am leaning more towards classy and timeless and I wanted the invites to reflect that.  I adorned the invites with some bling, naturally and when they finally were popped into the mailbox I was notified that I am still stuck in 2011...oops.

Most everything will be homemade from the favors to the decorations so I am excited to share (and spare my wallet) with you what I come up with!

I can't believe this stinker is almost one, I am reminded how precious time truly is and to soak up every single screaming, smiling, whining, loving second...

Shabby to Fabby: Upcycled Rockin' Chair

Yes, it's true...I just gave "fabulous" a nickname and I think I like it...because that's exactly what this little craft project of mine is....fabby. 

Baja bought me this darling little rocking chair at a resale shop about two months ago. The first words out of her mouth were "I know you can paint it or something...its Amelia's size."

I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it. The original flower detail on the chair was my inspiration but I had to modernize it and make it my own...I envisioned a felt garden of pinks and whites and wanted to keep the rest less "girly". I had the perfect color in mind...and I had a left over gallon of paint in my garage screaming to be used (ok, maybe it wasn't the perfect color but using my left over kitchen paint made this entire craft project FREE.)

This was the chair before:

And this was the chair after the first coat. 

After the first coat dried, I am not going to lie...this chair sat on my table for a good week before I even thought about picking up the paint brush again. If I could do this over again, I would definitely use spray paint...this puppy took about 4 coats (and a lot of precious time). 

Last night, I finally finished the last coat and since travis decided to have a "guys" night, took the opportunity to craft until 1am. (felt flower tutorial coming soon!)

But the finished product is SOOOOOO worth it. I am in love.

and Amelia was as happy as a pig in the sunshine. 

Look out for more crafts and tutorials on the felt flowers later this weekend!